Thursday, November 16, 2006

Vice President Nixon won California in the presidential vote that took place earlier this month, it was announced today. A count of absentee ballots reversed Kennedy's lead and gave the state's 32 electoral votes to Nixon. The absentee votes were 132,168 for Nixon and 84,458 to Kennedy. The overall count was 3,219,211 for Nixon, 3,206,051 for Kennedy.

The outcome in California will not reverse Kennedy's lock on the presidency. With California, Nixon has 223 electoral votes and Kennedy 300. The minimum needed to win the presidency is 269. In Illinois the latest vote count gave Kennedy a lead of 6,397. Nixon carried all of Illinois, except for Cook County, which includes Chicago.

President Eisenhower today ordered the government to cut is foreign spending to stem the drain on US gold reserves caused by the increasing deficit in the balance of payments. If left unchecked the balance of payments deficit could weaken the dollar, Eisenhower said. Much of the savings will come by reducing the number of military dependents living abroad, mostly in Europe and Japan.

France will vote next year on President de Gaulle's plan to let Algerians decide if they want independence from France.

In New Orleans some 2,000 young people rioted. The riots were a protest against school integration. A number of Negroes were attacked by whites. As the violence continued, Negroes were reported to be throwing bricks and bottles at passing cars and busses.